Hi again everyone!!! Before I forget I need to clarify when this fic is taking place. We join our hero's right after Kaiba's second tournament, but before Yugi goes to Egypt and fights the Pharaoh. (Because what good Yu-Gi-Oh fic doesn't have the Pharaoh pounding Kaiba into the floor?) To some of my readers who were brave enough to review THANK YOU!!!! I have been told Arty has Mary-sue traits, (Ack!!!) and I hope to prove later that she is definitely not a Mary sue in any way. Thank you guys again for giving me support and advice. To anyone else, please read and respond. :-
Chapter 2
As Artemis and Tea stepped out onto the platform above the dueling arena, Yugi was about to pull his trump card out, and the smirk that Kaiba held, showed that he didn't expect it.
"Now I summon my Dark magician Girl in attack mode, and activate the trap card Deal of Phantom. This Trap card allows me to increase the attack power of any monster of my choosing by 100 points for every monster in my grave yard, bringing Dark Magician Girls attack power to 3400! More than enough to destroy your Blue Eyes White Dragon. Now Dark Magician Girl! Attack his monster and end this duel!"
The wave of magic that the Dark magician Girl sent at Kaiba and his dragon engulfed them both, and brought the brunet to his knees. When he finally gained the composure to look up, his eyes were burning with fire.
"I will defeat you, Yugi! One day I will reclaim the title of King of Games!" Arty and Tea rushed down the ramp into the arena, where they were met by Joey and Tristan. Then they all approached Yugi to congratulate him. Arty noticed a change in his composure from when he was dueling just moments before.
"Nice job man!" Joey cheered. Tristan slapped Yugi on the back, almost sending the little blonde face first into the floor. Tea gave him a high five, and Arty congratulated him on a job well done. They were all just about to leave when Mokuba came sliding down the ramp to tend to his brothers broken ego.
"Seto! Are you okay, big brother?" The dark haired boy asked. Seto waved him off and got to his feet.
"You! New girl! You were the one that insulted me earlier. We need to settle this here and now. I'm going to put you in your place right here and now so you understand where you belong! I demand that you duel me right now!" Kaiba was adamant that he was going to get his way, and his attitude immediately got under Arty's skin again.
"First of all, if you are going to refer to me then you better remember my name. I am Artemis, and if you want to talk to me, then you will address me as such. Second, I am not a duelist by nature, and I am not going to fuel your ego by giving you an unfair fight that you will inevitably win. If you really want to tangle with me then we will use my terms. I am a fighter, and if you want to keep that CEO business sneer, then you don't want to get into it with me. Why don't you go find someone else to demolish, like one of the idiots on your staff? You're just a waste of time." The look that Kaiba wore at the end of that speech was a Kodak moment for anyone who had never seen Kaiba floored before. The feeling of satisfaction that Artemis got from that look was great. When Kaiba had finally recovered from the blow, he set her with one of his trademark glares. She didn't falter under it at all, it only strengthened her resolve.
"I accept your challenge, Artemis." He said, though she could tell that the use of her name had been forced. "I wish to fight you here and now, until one of us is knocked onto the floor." Artemis thought about it for a minute.
"Are you really sure you want to do this?" She asked. Kaiba, without missing a beat, nodded. Artemis agreed, and they shook hands to seal their deal. Then they each headed out to the center of the arena. Arty found this very amusing, a boy of such wealthy status thinking he could win against her. Then again she never told anyone that she had nine world titles under her belt either, but who has to know that?
The fight started out with the two circling each other. Artemis could tell that this Seto Kaiba was a very tense young man. His body seemed to be coiled tight, ready to spring at her at a moments notice, but he was waiting like an experienced fighter normally did. She relaxed her body, too be ready for anything, and made the first move. With a swift flick of her wrist on her right to distract him, she lunged at him. Not taking the bait, his knee came up at her face, and Arty had to switch to a sweep in order to avoid getting kneed in the face. Kaiba jumped over the sweep easily, and Artemis brought her leg strait up at his chin as she got up. Her foot connected, but as he stumbled back, Kaiba was able to plant a good front kick into Arty's stomach. They both recovered at a bout the same time, circling again to find a good position. Arty could hear Mokuba cheering his brother on, the sound so familiar, yet the memory was still out of reach. Kaiba was the first to make a move this time, using a round kick flip kick combination. Arty blocked the round kick, and was able to doge the flip kick. An idea came to Artemis, and she used it, going from standing into a round off onto Kaiba's shoulders. The brunet, upset that she had gotten on top of him, did a back flip while keeping one leg strait, so as to hit Arty as she came down. Artemis knew he was going to flip out, so she jumped up, and came right down on the CEO's stomach, pushing him to the floor.
"Not bad, for a rookie." Arty complimented. Kaiba, unable to move, grumbled something. Artemis offered her hand to the boy when she got up, but he slapped it away. Something about the way Kaiba acted reminded Arty of something, but what still eluded her. Without even a word, Kaiba walked away, leaving Mokuba to handle the formalities.
"Sorry my brother bothered you. You were really good! You reminded me of the girl my brother used to fight at the orphanage. She taught him how to fight, and she was really amazing. We haven't seen her in a while either. What was her name?" Mokuba trailed off in thought for a minute before his childish mind kicked in and he began talking about how wonderful his brother was. Joey waited attentively for about three seconds before he cut in and asked who wanted to go to the arcade. Everyone agreed, and they even let Mokuba tag along, as long as he didn't speak of his brother.
They left Kaiba land with Mokuba in toe, and a nagging feeling in Arty's gut made her stop. She looked back over her shoulder to the top of the building, but couldn't see anything that would make her uneasy. Realizing she had fallen behind, she turned around and rushed to catch up with the others.
When they arrived at the arcade it was empty, making everyone uneasy. Mokuba was the first to try out a game, picking a fighting game. He was on it for no more than five seconds when a teenager approached, punching the boy and sending him flying across the room into another game. Mokuba passed out immediately, but he was soon followed by the teen who hit him, Arty delivering her own strong hook to the punks face. Tea rushed to Mokuba's side as the boys began to compliment Artemis on her punch, when they found themselves surrounded by teens with various weapons pointed at the gang.
"What the..?!" Joey yelled in surprise. The punks were grinning evilly as they circled the boys and Arty.
"Who are you guys? What do you want?" Yugi questioned. A purple haired punk stepped forward, obviously the leader.
"We took over this Arcade, and now we declare that no kids are allowed to play in here. That little squirt is breaking our rules, and you just knocked out our friend. That means we go to rule number two. Any teens that support the kids, become mince meat at our pocket knives." The teens looked anxious to begin beating up the so called traitors. Joey and Tristan got in front of Yugi to protect him, and Tea got to her feet to keep Mokuba safe.
"Get'um boys!" The leader called, and the punks lunged at the gang. Joey dogged a knife and made the first hit, sending the punk back into his buddies who all fell over. Then he came to Tristan's aid. Arty didn't need any help at first, using their own weapons against her group of punks, but soon they overwhelmed her, getting her pinned between the entourage of knives and a game machine. With Joey and Tristan busy and Yugi and Tea not knowing how to fight, Arty had no options left. She readied herself for the feeling of the blades through her skin as she watched the boy's approach, when three of them were tripped by an unforeseen ally. Seto kaiba came up on the fourth boy with a perfect uppercut. Arty, not worried about why the boy had decided to help her, caught a punk who was sneaking up on Kaiba with a knee to the groin. The two worked well together, watching each others backs and taking out the punks. By the time everyone was finished, the punks were scrambling for the door. A few seconds after the last punk had been tied up or scared out, a door cracked behind the desk. The arcade owner poked his head out of the doorway, and looked around.
"Can I let the kids out now?" He asked the group.
"Yeah." Joey nodded. The owner opened the door wide, and an avalanche of little kids poured out of the back room. Of them a boy with midnight blue hair charged Artemis, and flung his arms around her stomach.
"Arty! I was scared. Those guys where mean and cruel, and one gave me a black eye." The boy pointed to the eye tenderly, already turning black and blue around the edges.
"It's okay Osiris. You will be fine now." Artemis ran her hand through the boy's hair, and he gave an award winning smile. Hey sissy, I'm going home, but Daddy is going to be there later, so don't stay out too late, okay?" Osiris commented. Arty nodded, and the boy ran off into the street.
"You have a brother?" Yugi noticed. Artemis nodded.
"He was a boy at the orphanage that I looked after, and when my step father came to adopt, he wanted both of us." Artemis turned to Seto Kaiba with interest. "Why did you help me beat up those punks?" She asked. Kaiba glared at her, and then answered swiftly.
"Because you helped Mokuba." Was his reply. Artemis tilted her head to one side, but said nothing.
"What, do you want me to pay you or something?" Kaiba spat. Artemis shook her head.
"I know we have met before, I'm just trying to remember where." She looked at him sideways for a couple more minutes, and then smiled. "I think I remember now." She said, closing her eyes. Suddenly her pocket began to vibrate as her phone rang. She turned to the gang with a tiered sigh.
"That would be my step father. See you round Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan." She faced Kiaba with an I-know-more-than-you smile. "By Seto." She said, walking out the arcade. Everyone, even Kaiba was floored that she had the guts to call Seto by his first name. Kaiba slung Mokuba over his shoulder to take him home, following the red head out in a huff.
For anyone who has no idea what a flip kick is, a flip kick is when you bring your leg up like a front kick, then flip it over so that your inner thigh is showing, and your foot comes in like a round kick.
